...The Use of Irony in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: “The most unlearned and uninformed female who ever dared to be an Authoress” Irony serves as a fundamental literary tool for authors. It enables them to express their themes and views through characters whose words are often inconsistent with their actions, and in situations where the intended result differs from the actual result. Irony works in a clever manner by showing the reader what the author wants to express by making these inconsistencies apparent to the reader, if not to the characters themselves, and exposing it, more often than not, in a satiric fashion. Yet, while irony works with satire, the power it holds for those who wield it well is no laughing matter. Famous writers such as the sardonic H.L. Mencken and Jonathan Swift, a true satiric master, have used irony to promote real, legitimate change. In Swift’s case, his famous piece, “A Modest Proposal,” used extreme satire and irony to promote change in Irish policy. Perhaps the greatest satirist of all time, William Shakespeare used irony in almost every piece he created. In his play Julius Caesar, the speech he has Mark Antony give in which he repeats the phrase “but Brutus is an honorable man” when he is trying to convey the exact opposite serves as a truly timeless example of this literary tool. It is unique in that it does not simply throw the author’s point of view directly in the reader’s face, but rather enables the reader to discover the author’s...
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...The text is Pride and Prejudice which is about the ups and downs of the connection/relationship between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. The person who changes the most throughout the novel is Mr. Darcy who changes for the affection of Elizabeth. The first copy of Pride and Prejudice was published in 1993 by Wordsworth Editions Limited. Jane Austen is the author and the genre of the novel is Historical/Romance. The book looks at Mr. Darcy and changing his personality, which characters remain static through the book, what Jane Austen is trying to say about the period of time the novel is set in and why Jane Austen has so many characters that stay the same all through the book. Why does Jane Austen have so many static characters? Well there may well be many answers but the ones that stand out include; characters in the text altering to add a twist to the book to make things more attention-grabbing and because back in the early 18th century men and women were supposed to act in a certain way, and if they acted differently they would be thought of as anomalous and people would think of them as different but not always in a good way. Darcy does not actually feel the need to change until Elizabeth turns him down and tells him that he’s not that grand and that he’s stuck-up. Mr. Darcy changes from disagreeable to agreeable after he asks Elizabeth to marry him but she declines because of his bad nature and atrocious manners towards her. Mr. Darcy is the most changed character throughout...
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...Conflict between Love and Prejudice Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice, portrays the social atmosphere that existed in the 18th century. Specifically the emphasis is on the importance of courtship and the effects of social standing on marriage. The story that is given is the Bennett family trying to find suitors for five unmarried daughters. All five daughters have their own unique personalities, but there is one that stands out the most in the novel. The story is concentrated mainly on Elizabeth Bennett, a strong willed and outspoken young lady, and her relationship with Fitzwilliam Darcy (Mr. Darcy), a haughty and extremely wealthy man. Elizabeth is from the middle class and Mr. Darcy comes from a prominent and wealthy family. Elizabeth is conflicted between her prejudices of Mr. Darcy’s behavior and her increasing attraction towards him. It is said that first impressions determine how a relationship will work out. Pride and Prejudice was initially titled First Impressions which is a fitting name because they play a crucial role in the development of the novel. Elizabeth’s first impression of Mr. Darcy is one of contempt and she feels deeply offended by Darcy. At the Netherfield gala, Darcy insults Elizabeth when he exclaims that “she is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt [him]” (Austen 9). At this time, during the Regency Era, a dance was intended for women and men to be together and for women to find potential suitors. The fact that Darcy refuses...
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...On Jane Austen’s Point of View of Marriage in Pride and Prejudice Acknowledgements This thesis has finally come into being to meet critical eyes through two months of hard work. From the very beginning when I chose the topic till the completion of the thesis, I have benefited from many people . First of all I would like to show my sincere gratitude to my tutor, Shen Guozheng. Without his sincere and trustworthy guidance，valuable suggestions and critical comments，it would be difficult for me to accomplish this thesis．His loyalty to teaching and punctilious work style has profoundly impressed me. Moreover, I heartily thank all the teachers who have helped me in the past four years, who have provided me with incentives and direction for my study. Thanks are also due to my classmates and friends for their constant encouragement and their ways of assistance in the course of writing. Last but not least, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my family members, for their selfless support，thoughtfulness and encouragement． Abstract Jane Austen was one of the distinguished realistic novelists in the nineteenth- century-English literature．Pride and Prejudice is a world wide popular novel published in 1813．Austen set the story in the first decade of the nineteenth century．At that time，marriage was the only way for women to gain social status and recognition. The author of the present thesis will analyze the five marriage patterns from the perspective...
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...PRIDE AND PREJUDICE ANALYSIS Love theme Love never gets old. So does every problem that comes with it. The “pride” and “prejudice” that once hindered the love of Elizabeth and Darcy have not ceased to cause troubles to lovers until nowadays. It is the love theme that makes Pride and Prejudice famous and widely read for many decades. Love in late 18th and early 19th century must be more difficult than today. Social standings and class could become a huge barrier. Early in the book, this barrier is poitrated when Darcy, being a wealthy noble, snubs Elizabeth (he refused to dance with her). Elizabeth’s pride immediately judged Darcy on that bad first impression, and keeps her away further from him later. Just like that, Elizabeth and Darcy were distant from each other because of their prejudice. Elizabeth and Darcy, however, eventually married. But how? Through a serie of events, and through many experiences, they understood each other. Darcy begins to admire Elizabeth, captivated by her fine eyes and lively wit. Elizabeth continues to impress Darcy during her time nursing Jane at Netherfield. But she, unlike him, did not grow such sudden change of heart that quick. She remained cold to Darcy for a long time, even angry at him once. But things change after Darcy gave her a letter to explain everything. And with some important events after that, Elizabeth slowly fell to Darcy. In the end both admitted that they were wrong. Aside from Elizabeth and Darcy, other couples contribute...
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...Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” is concentrated on the relationships of two potential couples: Elizabeth and Darcy and her sister Jane and Darcy’s friend Bingley. The novel tells the story of love of these two couples and the troublesome they have faced on their way to marital bows. They main reason for the obstacles they have faces is the reputation and class belonging. It is the reputation of Elizabeth and Jane that is being questioned throughout the novel as they belong to a aristocratic but a very poor family. As Elizabeth’s behavior in the first place is closely analyzed by the Bingley’s and Darcy’s family member and friends at times she finds herself along with her sister in very vulnerable situations. As the wealth allows these people to judge her and her sister it only owing to Elizabeth’s and Jane’s intelligence and internal beauty that helps them to keep their heads up proudly. The two girls suffer because of the reputation of their mother who is very foolish, noisy and she lacks social grace to make her communication with other people decent and respected by the others. As Darcy’s and Bingley’s families are rather snobbish and think of themselves as of better social representatives than Elizabeth and Jane. The bahaviour of Lydia Bennet almost leaves the girls with no chance of being together with their loved ones as she supports the ill reputation of the family by being with a man without being married to him. Nevertheless all these prejudice does not change the feelings...
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...Pride or Jealousy We’ve all done it, seen someone flaunting something that we don’t have, or boasting about an achievement, only to instantly dismiss them as a prideful, pompous person whom we harbor a dislike for from then on out. Less often does a person who makes this impression on someone wind up marrying them, spending the rest of their time with them, happily ever after. There is a fine line between being rightfully proud of accomplishments, and being over the top about how you choose to inform people about them. With this being said, often times being accused of being “too proud” can be a sign of jealousy on the part of the accuser. What is pride, a label or an action, or is it a flaw? Jane Austen carefully develops the aspects of her characters that could be deemed prideful in her novel, and in doing so, gives us clues as to her feelings about pride and what it really is. In the novel, Pride and Prejudice, the main characters, Darcy and Elizabeth, are the two most often accused of being too proud. The fact that Darcy is a well off, good looking young man makes him a likely candidate to be accused of being too proud. Every person that Darcy is “better” than is a person who could possibly accuse him of being too proud. Because of how Darcy’s first impression he made on Elizabeth made her feel, it is obvious that she has no intention of complementing him when she says he is too proud, but rather to criticize him. For her, telling herself and other people that he is excessively...
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...filmmakers see as necessary and fitting. The third one is radical, which reshapes the book in extreme and revolutionary ways both as a means of interpreting the literature and of making the film a more fully independent work. (Linda Cahir, p17) Traditional adaptation and radical adaptation are considered to be the top two types of film adaptations to discuss since traditional adaptation and radical adaptation are mostly seen in films. In order to examine the effectiveness of both traditional adaptation and radical adaptation in films, Pride and Prejudice (both novel and film), Heart of Darkness (novella) and the film adaptation of this novella Apocalypse Now are going to be discussed here. According to Linda Cahir, “Traditional adaptation maintains the overall traits of the book (its plots, settings, and stylistic convention) but revamps particular details in those particular ways that the filmmakers see as necessary and fitting. (P16)” Pride and Prejudice (both film and novel) is applied here to examine the nature of the traditional adaptation and evaluate the effectiveness of traditional adaptation in the film. As far...
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...Introduction It appears that like many great artists, the writer Jane Austen was not greatly appreciated in her own time. 1 Austen came from a big family being the seventh child of George and Cassandra Austen. To some, the way Austen does not seem so bad as she had a family who liked each other and a Father who worked as an Oxford-trained rector in Steventon, Hampshire, England. Austen's was a household where learning and imagination were encouraged. In Austen's lifetime she completed six novels. However, her two novels considered literary classics were Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. Austin went by the pen name: “The Lady”. Also, Austen had a special relationship with her only sister Casandra and her father. It should...
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...‘This text is so rooted in the female world that only women could derive any pleasure from it’? Considering the above statement, it’s evident that both ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ are both feminist perspective texts. As they are rooted within the female world I believe, that only women can derive pleasure from them both. It is apparent within chapter 8 that Austen has undertaken many different methods to portray characters in certain ways. One method Austen has used to make the novel more rooted to females is the use of dialogue and description. When Elizabeth leaves the room, “Miss Bingley begins abusing her” stating that her “manners were pronounced to be very bad indeed” and describing her as having a “mixture of pride and impertinence”. Therefore, it can be said that both description and dialogue incorporate successfully to create this classical novel which is still regarded as a timeless classic by many critics. This is also relatable within modern societies as women still like to gossip about each other. Despite the sisters criticising Elizabeth, a judgement can also be made about the vulgarity of their character, which is a further source of laughter between the two sisters despite their declared regard for Jane, “his sisters…indulged their mirth for some time at the expense of their dear vulgar relations”. Therefore, illustrating their spiteful and hypocritical nature disguised by their façade. Furthermore, they also state Elizabeth “had no conversation...
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...Dennis C. Ramdawah ENG 4300 Professor J. Desalvo March 30, 2012 In writing about the literary styles of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Jane Austen, there are subtle comparisons and contrast the reader draws upon to decipher the ideological content of these two writers’ works. Rousseau’s, The Confessions and Austen’s Pride and Prejudice exhibit the sensibility of nature in one perspective and the hierarchy of an aristocratic culture too long forgotten. Moreover, these writers draw upon natural life experiences to showcase their thoughts on humanity, life, love and nature as a whole. They both employ these two definitive factors throughout their respective works. Their writing reflects their passionate relationship during the Romantic period and why they became influential artisans of that era. Rousseau’s most influential work, The Social Contract, discusses the origins of government and states emphatically that laws cannot be made if the people do not agree upon them. These thoughts on government were light years ahead of his time and for citizens of the Romantic period. Additionally, Rousseau argued that children should live and play and enjoy the outdoors and their learning should coincide with them during these stages of development. He bore his development as a child emotionally through his experiences with nature. He thought nature should have an impact in literature. These same influences are the kindling flames of the Romantic movement that spread from England to abroad....
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...habit of being prejudice while Mr. Darcy is proud and somewhat disagreeable. In Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth undergo many changes within themselves. Elizabeth Bennet is a brilliant, lively, honest young lady with a sharp tongue. She has a tendency to quickly judge people and is often led astray because of it. Elizabeth prides herself on being a good judge of character. She can often tell how a situation is going just by observing from across the room. However, she is not always right and that is a lesson she must learn. Throughout the novel, Elizabeth must learn to overcome her misjudgments...
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...Pride and Prejudice- Jane Austen Jane Austen opens her story with one of English literature’s most infamous lines; ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of wife.’ This immediately indicates the author’s twist of irony- does she refer to the idea as ‘universally acknowledged’ or simply just in reference to Mrs Bennet for thinking so, simultaneously highlighting the questionable concept of their class/period that marriage and money are directly linked. This is interesting for the reader as it sets the tone for much of the novel- and the theme, being courtship and marriage. Whilst it may be true that mothers and daughters see this as ‘truth’, it is unlikely that ‘the single man’ would have entertained the thought. It is the competition for acquiring the man, especially among the mothers with unengaged daughters, which forms much of the humour of the novel later on. With hindsight, it becomes doubly ironic; since Mrs Bennet was indeed correct thinking that Mr Bingley was in want of a wife, the cliché is shown to be a ‘universal truth’. Furthermore, Austen sets the period clearly with the emphasis on wealth and social status ‘he is considered as the rightful property...a single man of large fortune...what a fine thing for our girls!’ It is also interesting to see that Mrs Bennet is the first to speak in the novel. The beginning dialogue introduces the characters of Mr and Mrs Bennet and their seemingly...
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...Society of Pride and Prejudice “Pride and Prejudice” was written during an epoch when France was in the midst of a violent revolutionary upheaval and vividly depicts the social response to those events in England. The storyline of a novel may be fictitious, but the insights it can provide are very real and true to life. The characters and events in this novel depict the evolutionary process in English society. The society of the novel highlights that the power, wealth and privilege of the old aristocracy is gradually giving way to the rising social status and power of the business class. The society of that time too had the tints of today’s society like marriage issues, women rights, social status, graph between rich and poor class and so on. Each of the four marriages that occur in the story involves a social elevation that is characteristic of the evolutionary process. Elizabeth, the daughter of an aristocratic gentleman and middle class woman, rises by marriage into one of the wealthiest aristocratic families in England. Her sister Jane marries a man whose wealth is twenty-times greater than her own. Even the scoundrel Wickham, the steward's son, not only marries a gentleman's daughter but also becomes brother-in-law to his father's former master. To get better idea about the society, the novel says, “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” Pride and Prejudice depicts a society in which a woman’s...
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...Reid makes brilliant use of her characters and their situations to paint an image of society in the early 19th century. At the same time, the norms and values which she presents bear some remarkable similarities to today’s world. Social norms are defined by Kendall, Murray, and Linden in Sociology in Our Times as “established rules of behavior or standards of conduct” (664), while a social value is defined as “a collective idea about what is right or wrong, good or bad, and desirable or undesirable in a particular culture” (668). These terms can be used fairly interchangeably; they both mean basically the same thing, with norms being the actual behaviors that are dictated by values. Such norms and values are shown in a multitude of ways throughout Pride and Prejudice. There are norms associated with most every aspect of society, including the norms for class, money, gender, and marriage most commonly explored in Austen’s novels. Austen shows society’s values both through satire and through presenting what she considers to be the better alternative. The society of Austen’s time no doubt differs from today in many ways; however, when the actual values of society are closely examined, it becomes apparent that there are some fundamental similarities. Money and class had a very strong influence on what was deemed ‘proper’ during the 19th century. The higher one’s class and economic level, the more highly respected one would be in society. Darcy, with his £10 000 a year and landed...
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